"I knew that the first few corners might get a little crazy. It's Long Beach after all. The first 3 turns are usually the culprit of first lap contact. Usually." -Bailey
Bailey was able to qualify near the middle of the field in 13th position. The start of the race was relatively contact-less, as said by many of the drivers. There were no severe pileups reported. Long Beach is well known for its difficulty to pass other drivers. You have few opportunities compared to more traditional tracks. This track is molded within the city streets of Long Beach.
In the first half of the race Bailey was able to keep light pressure on a number of competitors ahead of himself. To reduce the total times in the pits Bailey decided to be one of the last drivers to make his pitstop. This circuit gives a huge advantage to those who are ahead of their competitor. After pit stop rotations Bailey was able to make his way up to 5th position.
The second half of the race had an entirely different feel compared to the first half. This time Bailey was under immense pressure by Marcelo Thume for the last 20 minutes of the 40 minute race. Lap after lap the two drivers were no more than 2 seconds apart. It was later revealed that Bailey's car setup features the least amount of downforce possible white Thume decided to go with the most amount of downforce that the DTM cars could produce.
Bailey was able to keep Thume at bay until Thume bade a fantastic move in the final corner of the final lap of the race. Using his superior downforce he was able to pull alongside Bailey and drag race to the finish line. Thume finished in 5th position only 0.073 seconds of Bailey who claimed 6th in the race.
Not only did bailey claim the speed record at the track, but other than the leader he had the most consistent lap times in the field.
Watch the exciting video below from bailey's perspective.